Immense and ever-increasing quantities of solid trash are generated each day which present major collection, disposal and nuisance problems. Costs of disposal ranks third behind public schooling, highways and general municipal expenses. Quantities of trash that daily accumulate in large cities is truly staggering to the imagination. It is estimated that each individual in the country generates between 4-6 lbs. of trash per day. The trash from industrial sources is equivalent to an additional 5-10 lbs. per person per day. The average cost of disposal is approximately $5 to $10 per ton of trash.
Conventional methods of disposal such as landfill or more incineration are becoming prohibitively expensive or creating serious pollution problems. Landfill areas are, for instance, becoming decreasingly fewer in number and further from the municipalities where the trash is being generated.
Incineration, where not already prohibited because of pollution problems, is being looked at with ever-increasing skepticism. In addition, incineration still produces solid residue which must, in some way, be disposed of.
A second aspect of waste disposal is that conventional disposal methods constitute a permanent loss of natural resources. Every nation is consuming its natural resources at an everincreasing rate. Many of the essential minerals and metal reserves have a fairly limited life. Even such seemingly inexhaustible commodities such as paper, can be projected in coming years to be insufficient to meet the demand. Still, through trash disposal, natural resources are continuously and permanently being depleted.